Overcrowded Jails

On October 15th, Scott Henson, a former journalist, posted a blog on jail over crowding in Howard County viewable at his blog here: Grits for Breakfast.

I've heard a lot about jails being overcrowded and while I never really thought about it much until I read this blog post, it seems that this problem could be easily avoided. Like with most every problem that involves a person in power, they start playing the blame-game. Sheriff Stan Parker blames back ups in the state prisons that leave them holding onto prisoners longer and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice as they are supposed to transport inmates to the state facility within 45 days.

Seems to me that the author is saying that the reason the prisons is crowded is because the people aren't getting a speedy trial and thus end up sitting in the slammer before they get to see a judge. Based on the data 44 of 73 inhabitants of the jail of the time were pretrial defendants. It's pretty hard to argue with the numbers right in front of your face that he uses showing the number of people in the jail and what they're in for.

Mr. Henson seems to be a pretty credible based on his credentials and use of reputable sources. His blog's audience and therefore probably the only people who would see this post would people who care enough about this issue or generally politics and there going ons in Texas.

His post is short and sweet providing a pretty solid argument for prison reform and while doesn't say any one particular thing that they should do to fix this problem, he lists some possible solutions they could attempt to solve the problem. He concludes that something should be done about the jails being overcrowded, but someone needs to take the first step and initiate the process, finger pointing won't get us anywhere.